Snooker's German Masters resumes on Wednesday when reigning champion Judd Trump will be back to defend his crown - check out Richard Mann's outright betting preview.
Snooker betting tips
With last year's runner-up Neil Robertson, recent Masters champion Yan Bingtao, Mark Selby and Ronnie O'Sullivan all out of the running this week, the path looks clear for Judd Trump to mount a successful defence of his German Masters title.
Trump would have been devastated to miss the Masters earlier this month owing to a positive Covid-19 test, but that doesn't take anything away from the terrific campaign he has already enjoyed and he will surely add to his three titles so far this term in the coming months.
7/4 (Betfred) is the best you'll manage if you want to weigh in on Trump again, and there's certainly good reason to think he will prove very hard to beat, not least the aforementioned absence of many of the leading players in the world.
The draw pits him against veteran Mark Davis before he could face Joe Perry and then Ding Junhui or Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals. On paper at least, his path to the latter stages won't give him sleepless nights, but it is not a penalty-kick by any means.
For starters, being forced to miss the Masters has meant Trump hasn't played a competitive match for over a month now, having defeated close friend Jack Lisowski in the final of the World Grand Prix in December. At that point, the opportunity to freshen up following a relentlessly busy schedule would have been welcome, but what was intended to be a short break has ended up being a fairly lengthy layoff by modern day standards.
What we do know about Trump is that he is sure to have practiced hard in that time, and he may well be even more hungry to get back on the winning trail, but the first lockdown last spring clearly halted his momentum and another recess isn't guaranteed to work in his favour.
What seems certain is that it shouldn't be long before Trump is up and running again, but that isn't enough to justify taking 7/4 or lower this week about a player, even one as good as the world number one, when he has a few question marks hanging over him.
Furthermore, he finds himself housed in a dangerous top half of the draw with the aforementioned Ding and Maguire always worthy opponents.
It is Maguire who, not for the first time, has won me over.
The Scot continues to dumfound and frustrate, but the 2004 UK Championship hero enjoyed a brilliant season last year, reaching another UK final before winning the valuable Coral Series courtesy of victory at the Tour Championship.
Maguire numbered the likes of Robertson, Trump and Mark Allen among his victims there, once again underlining his ability to mix it with the very best when on song, and despite struggling in the early part of the new season, he looked back to something like his best at the Masters.
Having seen off Selby in a high-quality match in the first round, Maguire only narrowly lost 6-5 when thwarted by eventual winner Bingtao in the quarter-finals and if the form book is to believed, it seems highly plausible that his game is back in good enough shape for him to enjoy a strong few months from now until the World Championship in April.
As already alluded to, his half of the draw, featuring Trump and Ding, is fraught with danger, but Maguire's head-to-record against Trump (16-15 in Trump's favour) demonstrates that the Glasgow native is the type of character to fear nobody - and with good reason.
As last year's Tour Championship reminded us, Maguire's fortunes are more often than not linked to his own form and attitude rather than the draw or level of opponent put in front of him. In fact, I've always felt Maguire is happiest when facing the sport's elite players and required to produce his best snooker to compete.
That again looked to be at the case at the Masters, where he seemed in good spirits, and while never one to set your watch by, the 33/1 on offer with Unibet looks worth chancing about a proven winner with so many weapons in his armoury.
John Higgins would appear to stand out as the class act in the bottom half of the draw, but his defeat to Bingtao in the final of the Masters will have stung hard, given Higgins led 7-5 in that match and spurned a number of opportunities to close it out thereafter.
They don't come much tougher than Higgins, and he's clearly playing well again, but it has taken him some time to bounce back from bruising defeats in the past - think his last three World Championship final losses - and I wouldn't want to be backing him this week.
Instead, I'm keen to add the exciting Zhou Yuelong to my staking plan.
Yuelong is another terrific, young Chinese talent who was a beaten finalist at the European Masters last term and reached the last four of the UK Championship in December.
While Bingtao's Masters success will have elevated him to superstar status back home, I don't think Yuelong is too far behind his compatriot, if it all, and in terms of potential, he might have even more going for him.
Yuelong faces a tough match against Stuart Bingham on Thursday, but the latter has endured a season of mixed fortunes thus far and could really have his work cut out.
Thereafter, I'm not sure the bottom half of the draw is that strong and a potential semi-final meeting with Higgins is one Yuelong would relish, given he has beaten the veteran Scot in each of their last three meetings.
At 18/1, Yuelong looks the pick of those in that bottom half and he helps form my two-pronged attack on an event that might not be quite as much about the defending champion as the betting would suggest.
Posted at 1635 BST on 25/01/21
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